Feature story by Trekking Downunder
They say the first 3 months of being on the road are always the hardest. As a family it is all about getting into a routine, surviving being in each other’s pockets 24/7, but also realising what you forgot to bring, what you still needed to get and working out how much to spend in what areas of your travel budget.
This is us- The Murphy Family and our REAL budget.
We choose to be transparent of all the hidden cost that are often omitted in shared budgets. We choose to include all the costs as this is us- we’ve sold up and are full time on the road.
This is not our holiday but our new lifestyle and so we need to make sure our budget accounts for all those background costs, such as insurances, regular expenses and bills. This is to make sure we are on top of our finances, be ready for an unexpected expense that might jump at us and allow us to plan ahead to see when we need to stop and pick up work along the way.
Quarter 1 Expense Budget
?TRIP EXPENSES for
First Quarter ?
15/3/18-14/6/18
Blaxland, NSW to Sapphire, QLD (via furthest point Numurkah VIC)
? 92 days.
? Total Km’s Travelled = 10278km
? Total Litres of Diesel used= 2093.54L
? L/100km average =20.37L
?Main Cost Total $12059.32 = $1004.94/week *
⛽Diesel fill ups (incl. jerrys) x21 =$2706.84 ($225.57/wk)
?Parking x1 / NSW N.Park pass x1 =$68.50 ($5.71/wk)
Free camp x65 nights =$0
Low cost camp x21 nights =$134
Medium cost camp x5 nights =$115
National Park camp x1 night =$25
Moderate cost/ Caravan park x0 Night =$-
⛺TOTAL ACCOMMODATION x92 =$274 ($22.83/wk)
?Amenities useage x4 =$4
?Washing/ drying x12 =$38
?Car/ van wash x2 =$22
TOTAL CLEANING x18 =$64 ($5.33/wk)
?Gas Refill x1 =$21.40 ($1.79/wk)
?Grocery shops x47 =$5234.22 ($436.19/wk)
?Eating out/ beverages x24 =$619.50 ($51.63/wk)
?Alcohol x0 =$0
Free x65 =$0
Fee x18 =$383.55
?TOTAL ATTRACTIONS x83 =$383.55 ($31.96/wk)
?Tickets for future events x3 =$133.38
??Donations x9 =$15.40 ($1.29/wk)
?Purchases/ Luxuries x20 =$215.24 ($17.94/wk)
Car x6 =$140.98
Van x17 =$142.32
Adults x15 =$419.10
Kids x20 =$258.75
?TOTAL INCIDENTALS =$961.15 ($80.10/wk)
Car x3 =$458.28
Van x3 =$342.36
?TOTAL 2 INSURANCES =$800.64 ($66.72/wk)
Amy’s phone x3 =$265.28
Ryan’s phone x3 =$100
Sat phone x3 =$182.49
?TOTAL 3 PHONE BILLS =$537.77 ($44.81/wk)
Wix x3 =$19.26
iCloud x3 =$4.47
?TOTAL 2 APPS =$23.73 ($1.98/wk)
*Amy’s Nursing Rego =$155
*Car Service =$472
*Car Rego =$524.30
*Car Greenslip =$390
*Additional Van Solar Panel =$715
*Business Related Expenses x7 =$1490.21
{*✂TOTAL ONCE OFF LARGE/ UNEXPECTED PAYMENTS=*$3746.51}
{*means; includes a very much once off large incidental payment for an unforeseen expense/bill}
{?full monthly total including these *$15805.83 = $1317.15/week}
*Car and van- both personally owned.
Month 4 NEW Total weekly budget GOAL {excluding any *large unexpected expenses} to $850/week
Set new monthly targets for;
*Diesel =av. $900
*Accomodation =$140
*Groceries =$1500
*Incidentals total =$250
*Eating out total =$80
*Attractions =$150
*Luxuries =$50
Pre-set payments
Insurances =$197.89
Phone =$133.95
Apps =$8.15
(Total; $3410/ month)
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?Month 3- Interesting thoughts that became blogs;